The present invention is in the field of self administration of medicated ophthalmic solutions to be referred to hereinafter for short as "eye liquid".
Eye liquids are generally administered in the form of drops. Conventionally, dropper bottles are used, and for self administration the user has to recline his head, bring the nozzle of the dispensing bottle directly above the eye and then release a given number of drops. By prescribing the number of drops, the doctor can determine the dose for each administration.
Experience shows that such a mode of administration is not that easy to perform and may be rather tricky in that very often a fair proportion of eye liquid is wasted in that drops do not fall directly into the eye in consequence of improper aiming. This is particularly true for people with poor eyesight, poor motor coordination or both, such as, for example, blind and elderly people who for that reason may be precluded from self administration and require assistance of another person.
Apart from the inconvenience that it causes, inaccurate administration may also be economically burdensome due to the fact that eye liquid may be rather expensive so that waste due to improper administration gives rise to substantial increase in the cost of the medical treatment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,456 discloses an eye solution dropper bottle which has a conical nozzle comprising a contrasting target ring applied to a portion of the nozzle which enables proper positioning of the orifice in the centre of the eye. The drawback of this bottle is that its use requires good eyesight and it is thus not suitable for people with poor eyesight or whose eyesight is temporarily impaired due to a pathological condition.
In AU-A-68247/87 there is described an aid for administration of eye drops having the form of a small, handleless cup-shaped transparent cylinder, one side of which has a size and shape which enables it to be fitted against the eyebrows of the human eye, the other side thereof having a small opening in its centre into which a nozzle of a dispensing bottle may be inserted.
A somewhat similar eye drop dispensing device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,802. In accordance with that patent there is provided a bottle support having a transparent sloping wall surface and an opening through which the patient may insert a finger to retract the lower eyelid and maintain it in an open position while the eye drop is being dispensed. This overcomes the problem of reflex in closing of the eyelids upon application of drops as will occur with the device of AU-A-68247/87. However, with the device of the aforementioned U.S. patent exact targeting is necessary which may on some occasions be difficult for reasons explained above.